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Bernie Sanders, John Kasich push forward on paths to the White House

Updated on March 19, 2016 at 7:31 AMPosted on March 19, 2016 at 7:30 AM

Kasich and Sanders.jpg

Despite trailing their respective parties' front-runners in delegates and primary wins, Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders and Republican candidate John Kasich have remained firm that they can still forge a path to the White House.
(AP file photos)

SPRINGFIELD ‒ Despite trailing their respective parties' front-runners in delegates and primary wins, Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders and Republican candidate John Kasich have remained firm that they can still forge a path to the White House.

With hundreds of delegates still up for grabs on both sides of the 2016 presidential race, candidates are looking to build up momentum for their campaigns as the primary contest moves into high-stakes states like California and New York.

Although Sanders trails Democratic rival Hillary Clinton by a 1,147 to 830 margin in terms of pledged delegates -- a lead that grows to 1,614 to 856 when adding in so-called "superdelegates" -- his campaign is optimistic that the second half of the primary season favors the Vermont senator.

Kasich, who holds just 143 delegates to Donald Trump's 678 and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's, R-Texas, 413, meanwhile, is pinning his hopes on a contested convention -- an event which would open the door to becoming the Republican nominee.

Sanders' Campaign Manager Jeff Weaver and campaign Senior Strategist Tad Devine told reporters this week that while the primary results currently give Clinton the edge in the Democratic race, they believe her campaign has hit its "high water mark" in terms of a pledged delegate lead.

With primary contests still to go in more than two dozen states, Weaver contended that the senator will consistently chip away at the former secretary of state's advantage -- particularly on June 7, when just under 700 delegates will up for grabs across six states.

"We anticipate over the weeks and months to come that we will steadily, consistently and ultimately successfully erode her current advantage in pledged delegates... and that will happen on June 7 when a number of states, including California and New Jersey go to the polls," he said in a conference call.

Weaver argued that while the calendar and geography in the first half of the primary season favored Clinton, the second half gives Sanders an advantage.

Success for the Vermont senator's campaign in upcoming primaries would likely put more pressure on his Democratic rival and could impact delegate support heading into the nominating convention, Devine added.

"If you are the front-runner in a nominating process, even if you have a significant delegate lead, that delegate lead -- with pledged delegates -- can become very soft if you don't continue to win," he said, alluding to a possible shift in support benefiting Sanders.

Under Democratic Party rules, Devine contended, delegates must "fairly reflect the expressed sentiments of voters who participate in primaries and caucuses." Noting that some states have laws binding delegates to certain votes, however, he questioned their enforcement.

"The Democratic Party rule will define what happens in this instance and that rule is a standard of 'fair reflection,'" he said. "So those delegates are free to do what they want to fairly reflect the expressed sentiments of voters who participate in primaries and caucuses but they are not bound in any way to do so."

Devine said the campaign, which is also looking to woo superdelegates, doesn't currently have a plan to call Clinton delegates once they're selected to individually persuade them to support the Vermont senator.

He believes, though, that if Sanders does well in the second half of the primary contests, there will be more pressure on delegates "to do the right responsible thing" -- which he argued is to support the candidate that's strongest against the Republican nominee, especially if it's Trump.

RealClearPolitics' poll averages give Clinton a 6.3-point advantage over Trump in a head-to-head match-up and Sanders a 10-point edge over the GOP front-runner.

Looking to secure his own path to the Republican nomination over Trump, meanwhile, Kasich is looking to block the businessman from receiving a majority of delegates -- a move which would lead to a contested convention.

Following the Ohio governor's home state primary win over Trump on Tuesday, Kasich pledged to take his campaign "all the way to Cleveland and secure the Republican nomination" at the party's national convention this summer.

Touting Kasich's Ohio victory as "resetting the race," his campaign argued that no candidate will win the 1,237 delegates needed for the GOP nomination.

Campaign Chief Strategist John Weaver told Reuters earlier this week that if the governor won Ohio and some other states "nobody is going to have enough delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot."

He further contended in a campaign memo that Kasich "is the candidate best positioned to go toe-to-toe in the remaining states," as the electoral map shifts in his favor and he looks likely to pick up support from would-be backers of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, who left the contest earlier this week.

"Of the three remaining viable candidates, only Gov. Kasich will defeat Hillary Clinton in an Electoral College landslide, sweeping in Republicans from the courthouse to the Senate," he said. "The other candidates would lose to Hillary Clinton in dramatic fashion and cost us seats in down-ballot races from California to Maine."

Kasich's campaign has further argued in recent days that Cruz will not win the Republican nomination before the convention the way things currently stand, and that a "contested convention in Cleveland is looking more and more likely."

The campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment on its long-term strategy.

The next presidential primaries will take place on March 22, when voters in Arizona and Utah, as well as Democrats in Idaho, head to the polls.